Excerpt from Doordarshan- debate on Textbook issue

Textbook issue

There was much hype about the 7th standard textbook.Political parties,the government,the public and even the kids were involved in the following harthal and other stuff.

The problem with the christian priests and the Congress and other people was that

1. The book didn't have any content to be learned.
2. In spite of having a competent expert, Prof.Khadar as Director of SCERT ,he had no role in preparation of textbook.
3. It is anti-religion and propagating atheism.
4. It didn't give or propagate the values of religion.
5. Local history is highlighted.
6. Only some part of history is told
7. The text had hidden agenda of propagating the ideology of CPI(M)

The Doordarshan had a debate programme with the Education minister ,Sri M.A.Baby,P.C.Viswanath M.L.A,Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan (Ex Minister and M.L.A),FAther Tholekkat.Prof.Khadar,Ragesh(President,S.F.I),Moderator Asharff Kadakkal.

Prof.Khadar clarified the following:-

1. The book was prepared based on NCF recommendations,using new pedagogic techniques with the objective of the student approaching the lessons in a research and problem solving mode,rather than learn things by-heart.
2. A test was conducted ,by SCERT,for forming a panel of teeachers to prepare the textbook.The entire process was tyransparent.
3. He was actively involved in the preparation of the textbook.

M.A Baby clarified:-

1. There was no intention of propagating atheism.The value of secularism has been highlighted in consanance with the policy of India Govt.Similar approach had been adopted my NCERT textbook.However,it was pointed out in the textbook that al regiligions basically propagate peace and love.A catholic priest who happens to be a school teacher as awell has reported that there was nothing unacceptable in the textbook concerned and has been using it to teach his students.
   
2. The importance of local history cannot be overruled.the history of a region is made up of many local level actions.However,this does not mean trivialissation of the national level history.Mr.Ragesh intervened at this point and pointed out that there had been no reference to Peer Mohammed in the first war of independence(1857) while Mangal Pandey alone had been lionised in the past,this textbook does justice to the role of a freedom fighter like Peer Mohammed.Ragesh continued and pointed out that local level Muslim congress leaders in Malabar who had contributed handsomely to the freedom movement had been referred to for the first time in a history textbook in this.
   
3. The approach of SCERT was to conbsider thetext book of all subjects for all standards from first to tenth are to be considered in a sequence.hence it is a specious argument that many parts of history are not included in the concerned textbook.What has not been covered in first standard could be covered in other standards.